The present invention relates generally to a floor panel retention system for a cargo storage area, and, more specifically, to a floor panel retention system that includes floor panels with slidable latches.
At least some known cargo storage facilities, such as vehicles (e.g., aircraft, ships, trucks, etc.) and storage locations (e.g., holds, containers, and warehouses, etc.) include cargo management systems to aid in the movement of cargo within the facility. Some such facilities, such as aircraft, include various compartments for different uses. One such compartment in an aircraft is a cargo storage area for carrying and storing cargo during flight. The cargo area includes structural supports that support the weight of the cargo. Existing cargo management systems typically include a number of roller trays coupled to the top of the support structures. Roller trays are used in storage facilities, such as aircraft, to aid in the loading/unloading of cargo and are oriented along a longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
At least some known cargo management systems also include floor panels coupled to the structural supports between adjacent roller trays. Typically, the floor panels are coupled to the structural supports by positioning the floor panel on the support, drilling holes through the support that are aligned with pre-drilled holes in the floor panel, and then inserting fasteners though the holes. This fastening process requires the installer to drill a large number of holes, insert and fasten a fastener into each of the holes, and to clean up the drill shavings after the holes were drilled. Furthermore, other work cannot be performed in the area of the drilling due to the size of the drilling equipment. As such, the fastener method is a time consuming and labor intensive process that often requires reworking due to hole tolerances and margin requirements, which increases the manufacturing costs.
Moreover, the fastener method of coupling the floor panels to the support structure also requires the use of backing plates for the fasteners, since the tension in the fastener holds the roller trays in position. This causes an increase in cost and weight because additional material is required to assemble the cargo management system.